#58: Body Horror, Part 2 (of 3)

Previously, in GREEN LANTERN CORPS…

Just when our heroes thought they’d been through the worst of it, things inevitably took a turn for the catastrophic. HANK HENSHAW, still reeling from the psychological torture of a few weeks prior, tracked cosmic radiation to Metropolis, where he was confronted by a flaming astronaut with a destructive streak. Before he could learn more, a seemingly reformed LEX LUTHOR appeared on the scene and took the astronaut down! With the threat neutralised, the two of them travelled to STAR Labs, where LUTHOR revealed he knew HENSHAW’s secret identity, before a mysterious explosion tore the building apart!

Still complaining about his lack of proper holiday, GUY GARDNER was assigned to investigate a distress beacon emanating from an alien colony where no life signs were present. When he arrived he quickly found out why, as it became clear that the entire colony had been transformed into an abattoir by an unseen force that quickly made himself known. Who was the monster behind the mayhem? None other than the mad Kryptonian scientist XA-DU, continuing his campaign of terror, experimentation and vivisection on those he considered beneath him-- everybody!

Meanwhile, THAAL SINESTRO returned to the fold of the Green Lantern Corps after a number of years suffering at the hands of numerous villains. He’d spent his time training KYLE RAYNER in the use of his powerful new WHITE LANTERN abilities, but found himself drifting apart from his young protégé at his powers increased.

Welcome back to the ongoing adventures of the GREEN LANTERN CORPS!


Guy Gardner awoke sluggishly, the sight of his feet the first thing striking his addled brain, followed by the awkward sense of being dragged.

What happened? Where was he?

Guy Gardner was being dragged by the scruff of his collar, down an unrecognizable corridor, the lights flickering overhead doing nothing to make him feel at ease

“Whuh…”

Guy turned to look over his shoulder, and saw that the man dragging him wore white. His gloved hand was stained scarlet with what Guy assumed to be blood. That sight triggered memory, and his concussed mind put the pieces together and he remembered the events of the day.

With one swing of his arm he thought emerald thoughts--

--But nothing happened.

Guy looked at his hand-- and saw nothing. He looked down at his shoulder and saw nothing where there should have been an arm. There was no pain, just a fuzzy, numb feeling.

“I can’t have you using your ring in my operating theatre, Green Lantern,” said his captor.

“Whuh-- whah-- ?”

Doctor Xa-Du, the last monster of Krypton, held up his hand.

Guy Gardner’s severed arm and hand.

“Don’t worry. I assure you, I can put you back together again. I’ve spent so much time practicing.”

Guy Gardner began to scream.


Hank Henshaw’s ring extinguished the fires inside STAR Labs as quickly as possible, but the damage had been done. He phased through walls and scanned for survivors, but where the doctors and scientists were working on the flaming astronaut he could detect scrambled human detritus, indicating that they had been vaporised during the blast. Whoever this astronaut was, he had taken the lives of countless innocent men and women who were present at the moment of his explosion.

As Hank moved through the burning wreckage his ring picked out survivors and went to work, patching them up, stabilising their life signs and then transporting them in emerald spheres to the outside, to where paramedics had started to arrive. His ring downloaded data from STAR’s servers for retrieval later, and he took care to remove any undamaged storage tanks quickly and efficiently, his own ring powering their containment procedures until replaces could be found. He spotted one empty, man-sized stasis tube, but there was no sign of its former occupant. That’d come back to haunt him, he was sure.

Hank cursed as he arrived at the central chamber, where the comatose astronaut had been sent. The now reignited astronaut stood perfectly still in the middle of the inferno, and Hank made a conscious decision to ignore him until he had no choice but to engage. The priority now, other than the fires, was to ensure that nothing contained in STAR Labs got out.

“Hello,” said a gaunt figure, patting the fires off his arm as he approached Hank. “Hello hello!”

“What--?”

The figure duplicated itself, then the duplicates duplicated themselves, until Hank was surrounded by a small squad of gaunt men, clad in black and white and resembling living skeletons. “I was having a nap but you woke me up! Thanks!” Well, of course this would be the occupant of that damaged stasis tube. Because today was never going to be easy.

<Mutated human being’s physical parameters coincide with that of known felon Frederick Von Frankenstein, aka ‘Riot’. Held in stasis to prevent generation of phase-shifted duplicates. Criminal record includes-- >

Von Frankenstein? That has to be an alias, thought Hank. I don’t need his rap sheet.

Dozens of punches were thrown by dozens of duplicates, and Hank’s aura took the brunt of the damage, but Henshaw was dazed by the events of the last hour or so.

Lex Luthor knew his identity under the mask. He alluded to his role in the death of his wife, her brother and their best friend aboard the space shuttle Excalibur, something that Hank believed was true in all his heart but had never been able to prove before.

Hank’s world was spinning, and the duplicating fiend trying to ruin his day was going to achieve just that if he wasn’t taken down quickly.

“No, stop it,” said Hank. He sent a concussive blast out that knocked the Riots down. His ring multi-tasked-- extinguishing flames and running defence. Hank upped its operations: There’s an original somewhere, so let’s find him. His ring sent out tracer beams for the original Von Frankenstein, and all the while the flaming astronaut turned his exposed, scarred head toward the Green Lantern.

A strand of emerald light yanked a Riot out from the rabble and he thrashed under the extra attention being given to him. “Hey, all I wanted was a nap, it’s not my fault you woke me ooooop--”

Hank knocked the original Riot out with a left hook that felt right, without any assistance from his ring. The other Riot duplicates vanished, sucked into the now unconscious form of the original, insane, Frederick Von Frankenstein.

“Hank, you died in the belly of the shuttle. You were the first to go,” said the flaming astronaut, his voice clear and unobstructed by his previously closed visor.

Henshaw tried not to listen. Dangerous bacteria was neutralised. Viruses expunged. Toxins hit the air and were broken down into their base components by rays of light, then if those base components were harmful they were transmuted into something not.

Shut this situation down, thought Hank, pushing what he imagined to be the end result into the ring to make real: “End it.”

A massive wave of emerald energy washed out from Hank’s ring and engulfed everything. It raised up, hovering over the chaos, then smashed down, smothering fire and finishing the neutralisation process.

In the smouldering ruins of Metropolis’ STAR Labs stood the flaming astronaut and Green Lantern.

“Jon, is that you?” said Hank, remembering the face of one of his oldest friends, one of the crew who died aboard the Excalibur all those years ago. “Underneath all that, is it you?”

The flaming astronaut said nothing, then vanished from inside his space suit, leaving it in a heap on the ash-stricken floor. Hank clenched his fist, tried to stop his body from shaking, but struggled to regain his composure. What was going on here?


Within moments of returning to Sector 0, Sinestro had been contacted by Salaak. After his earlier conversation with Kyle Rayner mere hours before, he felt a weight grow in the pit of his stomach. Not fear-- never fear-- but expectation of something coming that he would fine… inconvenient.

A quick descent down toward the surface of Oa and Sinesto was within the Citadel, the main base of operations of the Green Lantern Corps on the planet, awaiting his orders.

Salaak looked grave as he addressed the contingent of Green Lanterns gathered before him. “We have lost contact with Honour Lantern Gardner in Sector 1759. As such, I am sending a special investigation unit to find out what happened. As this is the second such team to be sent to this planetary coordinates, I am ordering a sector-wide lockdown. You will enter, while the neighbouring Sector Lanterns will stand by at a perimeter of one light year away, for immediate back up. Stellar travel within the perimeter will not be permitted by any means.”

“Understood,” said Sinestro. “Am I to understand I will be in operation command?”

“That is correct. You will be accompanied by Lantern Yat, of Sector 1760. I believe he will be of unique assistance in these circumstances.”

Sodam Yat stood to attention next to Sinestro, while Kyle Rayner’s words rang in Sinestro’s head: “It’s just a shame what happens next to Sodam.*”


Tramping down his trepidation, Sinestro looked the young Green Lantern up. “You’re a Daxamite, Yat?”

“Yes, sir, Lantern Sinestro, sir,” said Sodam. He tugged at his collar, nervous to be in the presence of one of the greats.

“No need to stand on ceremony,” said Sinestro, waving the youthful salute away. “You understand what will happen to you when you are exposed to the yellow sun of the planetary system?”

Salaak interrupted before Sodam could answer. “Lantern Yat has been working with a science unit in recent months, exploring the conditions of his extra-normal power set. Similar to your own work with Lantern Rayner.”

“I see,” said Sinestro. “While Lantern Rayner ponders the Sector 666 blockade, I am to work with another science experiment. I respect your decision, Lantern Salaak, but now may not be the time to try something so out of the box. An investigation like this--”

“Lantern Yat, please excuse us,” said Salaak. “Lantern Sinestro and I have further details to discuss that will be shared with you in due time.”

“I understand,” said Sodam. “Lantern Sinestro, I will be in high orbit awaiting entry into subluminal.”

Sinestro watched as Yat phased through the ceiling and headed away from the Citadel. He turned to Salaak, who wore a gruff expression.

“You have not been involved with the Green Lantern Corps for some time, Thaal. For that, I will excuse your questioning my decisions, but once is enough for someone of your stature. You are a Green Lantern once more. With that, comes responsibility, and a chain of command.”

Sinestro nodded slowly, considering his words. “I understand, Salaak. I have been out of the universe for some time. Become used to my own methods and to the support of young Kyle. I will not speak out of turn again.” What else could he say? Kyle said something unnerving-- again? He stood tall, and took his licks.

“I respect your opinion, Thaal. Of course I do. We Lanterns don’t live long, and those who do are filled with knowledge that cannot be found in the Book of Oa. But I chose Sodam for a reason. If there is a Daxamite-related threat in Sector 1759, a Daxamite may be best positioned to alleviate the impact of the universe. The solar rays from the system’s yellow sun will energise his cells, make him stronger and faster than any Lantern before him. With your experience, you are best positioned to act as a mentor to him in a live situation.”

“Understood. I’ll locate Lantern Gardner and bring him back.”

Salaak smiled and returned to his other duties while Sinestro flew up to meet Sodam.

“Anything I need to know, sir?” said Sodam.

“Only that you need to do exactly as I say, and then maybe, just maybe, we’ll survive this,” said Sinestro. “Let’s go.”


Xa-Du held up the severed arm of Guy Gardner and considered the twitching digits of its fingers. “You know, Green Lantern, I have intimate knowledge of the anatomy of countless species in this galaxy, one of which is a sentient gas. They experience one exquisitely simple type of pain but it dissipates when you add a certain chemical solution to their gaseous body. I discovered this through hard work and research. But you humans experience pain in so many more glorious ways than any other creature in the galaxy. I discovered that through sheer curiosity and boredom.”

“M-mad, you’re m-mad,” stuttered Guy, unable to fully process what was happening to him.

Xa-Du’s eyes flashed and he wrenched Guy up by the hair. “You’re showing all the symptoms of succumbing to shock. Understandable. You can’t feel anything, but the sight of your body… being taken apart… must be psychological damaging for you. I assure you, I’m not mad. I’m simply curious.”

“What kind,” Guy felt something grow in the pit of his stomach. He concentrated on it, held it down and made it thrash and growl, let it begin to push up against the cage of his chest, “what kind of mad man takes people apart? What kind of mad man vivisects innocent people?”

“Oh, Green Lantern, you’re hardly innocent, are you? You can’t possibly include yourself in such an asinine definition of sentient beings, can you?”

Xa-Du entered the medical facilities of the colony and lifted Guy onto an operating table. Around the room were scorch marks, arterial spray and other assorted signs of horror. There were no bodies in this room, just the impression that terrible things had happened inside previously.

“Where are the other Lanterns, Xa-Du? What have you done with them?”

“I haven’t performed any work on them as of yet,” said Xa-Du. He pondered his situation. “I put them in the one place I knew I could always find them, where they could cause the least trouble.”

The Kryptonian held up his wrist and pressed a previously hidden button on his sleeve. With that action complete, a secret compartment to the right of them growled open, revealing a Phantom Zone projector, active and shining a light of the surface of the wall behind it. The perfect circle of monochromatic light showed swirling tendrils of grey and black light up against the wall.

“Sometimes, during my free moments, I look into the abyss of the Phantom Zone, and I’m convinced that something is looking back at me,” mused the madman. “Something lurks within that ghost realm, and I intend to be the first to find out exactly what… once my work here is complete.”

Without warning, fists began to pound against the surface of the wall, and Guy could make out an emerald ring-- dimmed-- on one of the fists’ fingers. It was like watching a film projection in monochrome, everything on the wall was drained of colour and weighted by the drab swirls of light that made up the appearance of the Phantom Zone on this side of reality.

“Wh-what is that?”

“Keep up, Green Lantern. It’s a portal to the Phantom Zone, Green Lantern.”

Xa-Du moved over to the Phantom Zone projector and glanced back at Guy, smiling. He reached into the void, his arm slipping through the dimensional portal like it was moving through water, then wrenched out the arm of one of the Green Lanterns he’d captured previously.

Xa-Du held the arm out, extended, but ensured that the rest of the Lantern’s body remained within him. With a heat vision blink, the arm was severed and the stump cauterised. He shoved the Lantern back into the depths of the Phantom Zone, and removed the Green Lantern’s power ring from the bodiless limb.

“Your power rings don’t know how to react when the owner is stored in the Phantom Zone,” said Xa-Du. “They are not dead, so they do not seek out a replacement. The AI inside is so simple, elegant yet stupid in equal measure.” He discarded the ring and it clattered off somewhere around the room.

“What have you done to my ring?” said Guy.

“Similar principle,” said Xa-Du. He wheeled the gurney Guy was laying upon around, so that it was positioned in front of a mirror. Behind the gurney was another mirror, angled at the back of Guy’s head.

Instead of seeing his head or a shock of red hair, there was a silvery void at the back of Guy’s skull. Gardner didn’t know what to say, or to think. Parts of him were being chipped away.

“I’ve been experimenting with the Phantom Zone, as well as the bodies of all those I meet,” said Xa-Du. “I’ve learned that I can send aspects of a being into the void, yet keep them here, in the present. It takes careful calibration, but it is an efficient way to continue my work.” He tapped the Phantom Zone projector softly. “As long as this is active, you will be sustained, existing in two worlds, but if I flick this switch--” He stroked a simple on / off button. “-- The separation will be permanent and you will die.”

“My head,” whispered Guy.

“Oh, that? I’ve removed the aspects of your brain that are linked to the power ring’s functions,” said Xa-Du. “Did you know that with my enlightened vision, I can actually see the strands that link you to the Oan mind technology you wear?” He moved his hand slowly behind Guy’s head, so he could see fingers go where human matter should be. “This is where your brain floats, in the void, completely out of phase with the rest of you. Of course, prolonged separation causes issues but I intend to be done with my work by that point.”

“Yeah? Y-yeah? And what work is that?”

“Oh, it’s quite simple, really,” said Xa-Du. “I’m going to cure my insipid weakness to ‘Kryptonite’, then expand my laboratory to cover the entire galaxy. Whole cultures will become my petri-dishes in my effort to rebirth Krypton in my own, perfect image. Genetically engineered in the form of the House of Du.”

“Y-yeah, that’s not going to happen,” said Guy.

Xa-Du smiled. “Yes. It is. Now, be quiet. I’m concerned I’ve blunted my skills on all the Daxamite cadavers I’ve worked on. I need to see if I can take a sentient apart piece-by-piece, and I feel like you’ve volunteered your body to my science just by being here.”

Guy felt the world drop out from his chest, his eyes widening at the same time as Xa-Du’s.

The Kryptonian’s eyes crackled with fire. Guy’s filled with tears.


Hank’s ring couldn’t locate the flaming astronaut, but part of him didn’t want to. If that was Jon Runnels, one of the best pilots NASA ever trained… if that was Jon Runnels, who died aboard the Excalibur and now looked to be some monster on some rampage… Hank didn’t… couldn’t…

“Cosmic rays, astronauts, the way he burned,” mumbled Hank. He trudged through the ruins of STAR Labs and saw Lex Luthor coordinating the containment measure with his security team and the SCU. “What did… what did he…?”

“Green Lantern!” said Luthor, noticing the charred costumed adventurer emerge. “Great work. You prevented the spread of any of the xenosamples getting out into the world and took down Riot, to boot. I think he was one of the few long-term ‘guests’ of the facility.”

Henshaw dropped the unconscious form of Riot to the floor and the SCU immediately took him back into custody. “What did you do?”

“Me? I didn’t do anything,” said Luthor, shocked, “I was with you the entire time. I’ve patched into the security footage, he woke up and detonated. Who could have known he was capable of such destruction.” As he spoke, a holographic representation of STAR’s security footage played from the projector in his chest plate.

“You… you… you…” Henshaw punched Luthor so hard it knocked him down, and his security guards were over the Green Lantern in seconds. “You had something to do with this Luthor! You know more than you’re letting on!”

Luthor dabbed his lip and saw blood. He flashed a look of utter disdain at Henshaw. “I’m helping, you madman. I’m an innocent man and you hit me for no reason. I should press charges-- but I won’t.” He climbed up. “You’re obviously under a lot of pressure. The amount of power you wield, you should be careful. Maybe find someone to pick up the slack before you crack under that pressure.”

“Whoa there, whoa, whoa!” said Maggie, pushing through the LexCorp security force. “We’ve still got an ongoing situation here and I don’t want to have to deal with a brawl too! Mister Luthor, please, call your boys off.”

“Of course, Captain,” said Luthor. “I’m only here to help.”

“Our techs could use your assistance making sure nothing else gets out, or slipped through the net,” said Maggie. “You’ve got the brain for that kind of thing and no one else here can compete.”

“Well, yes, of course,” said Luthor. He beckoned his men over and then headed to the SCU command tent with a smile on his face.

“You need to calm down, GL,” said Sawyer. Henshaw was breathing erratically, close to hyper-ventilation, and his ring was sparking with light. “Whatever’s going on between you and Luthor needs to be side-lined. Did he do something-- say something-- that could be used to take him down for this?”

“Wh-what?” said Henshaw.

“Look, it’s Lex freaking Luthor, he obviously had a hand in this,” said Sawyer. “Did he say something that can help us nail him for this?”

Hank thought back to their interaction before the explosion. “He… he said somethings… I…” He held up his ring and a projection of his conversation with Luthor from before the explosion began to play.

The two men were shown in the emerald projection chatting about Luthor’s return, then just moments before the explosion Hank hand his hand around Luthor’s throat.

“Christ, looks like you’ve just got a mad on for Luthor, GL, and unprovoked too…” said Sawyer. “Damn. Damn damn damn, there’s nothing. It’s that astronaut guy according to the STAR Labs security footage and Lex, and nothing you’ve shown me contradicts that.”

Hank rewound the footage and played it again. “This isn’t… this isn’t right…”

Henshaw remembered their conversation. Lex said things, said Hank’s name and insinuated he had something to do with the cataclysmic event that led to the death of the Excalibur crew*. But this just shows Henshaw and Luthor chatting idly before the former seemed to snap.


“I can’t deal with this,” said Henshaw. “I can’t…”

“Look, Superman isn’t here right now, but maybe you should head off, leave it with my unit. You’re obviously not feeling too great, and if there’s some grudge between you and Luthor, I need that not to be played out right now. STAR is responsible for so much of our containment protocol when it comes to xenoforms and metahumans, I have to figure out what’s next--”

“No need for that, Captain Sawyer,” said Luthor, swanning over, “I’ve already spoken to the mayor and volunteered LexCorp’s equipment. We’ll help you contain any threats you may face. Now, Lantern, it’s obvious you’re not feeling quite right, like Sawyer says. Leave this to us Metropolis types. You clearly don’t understand the needs of the city.”

Henshaw grimaced. Get a grip. Get a grip. You’re being gas lighted. Think.

“I’m sorry,” said Hank, slowly. “I’m going to be honest with you.” Careful, don’t be too honest. “My background is in space flight. To say more could jeopardise my identity,” Hank shot a look at Luthor, “but whatever is happening here ties into a case I investigated a number of years back and, again, to go into further details could cause issues. Sufficed to say, I think I know who that astronaut is, and I believe that this case could get a whole lot worse before it gets better. So, with your permission Captain Sawyer, I’d like to stick around and offer assistance.” He cracked a smile, doing his best Hal Jordan impression. “I’ll get my act together, I promise.”

Sawyer followed what he was saying with a nod, while Luthor looked irritated. He started to speak, “you can’t possibly--”

“Mister Luthor, I want to thank you for your offer of assistance in these difficult times. The SCU appreciates any assistance you can provide,” said Sawyer. “Now, with Superman incommunicado, we could use the assistance, and I have it under the highest authority that Green Lantern is a card carrying member of the Justice League, so he’s UN-approved and that means he’s all right in my book.”

Luthor considered everything was being said and then nodded in agreement. “I apologise profusely. In my zeal to make up for the crimes I was accused of, I believe I was somewhat gung ho in my efforts. Green Lantern, if Captain Sawyer approves then so do I. I’ve got to make some arrangements for the guests LexCorp should be expecting. Excuse me.” Luthor shot away from the scene, assisted by the jets in his boots, leaving Henshaw and Sawyer surrounded by EMTs, the officers of the SCU and Luthor’s own men, assisting where needed.

“I deserve a promotion for that level of bullshit glad-handing,” said Sawyer. “What’s going on?”

“Excuse me?”

“Look, I’ve seen some awful things in my life. I’ve seen cops pushed to breaking point and I’ve seen what this line of work, in this day and age, can do you to you. Now, I’m sorry for being direct, but you’re clearly not all right. Clearly. You’re distant. You’re disconnected. You’ve seen some horrible things, experienced some horrible things, something, both, whatever, and its left you traumatised. I’ve seen PTSD in people, GL. And I see it in you right now.”

Hank Henshaw said nothing. The last two years of his life had been a blur of trauma and human damage. He went to war to reignite the Central Power Battery and bring back the Green Lantern Corps*. He was murdered by Mongul**. He was brought back by the Predator entity and worn like a pair of gloves to perpetrate atrocities***. He was freed from the Predator’s influence but imprisoned for the monster’s crimes in a cell next to his murderer’s****.


And that was just while wearing the ring. He’d been through hell during his time with NASA. Lost his wife, her brother and their best friend, due to an accident no one could foresee occurring. They died in agony, exposed to massive amounts of cosmic radiation, and Hank had to jury-rig the Excalibur, their experimental shuttle, to get the bodies home.

Don’t forget, Luthor was the one who designed the shielding, and the official findings of the investigation into the disaster found fault in the crew only, their reputations tarred thanks to the machinations of a monster, thought Henshaw.

Then recently, Carol Ferris, the woman he thought he could actually love after years of nigh unbearable sadness and mourning, the first woman he entertained opening himself up to, rejected him and seemed to be living the life of a polyamorous shaman in Coast City*.


It didn’t help that only weeks before the events of today, Hank had his brain popped open by an alien being who wanted to strip him down into a gibbering idiot, and she went about that by reopening every psychological wound and scar ever inflicted upon his psyche.*

“My life is pretty much a mess,” said Hank, slowly. “Luthor pushed some major buttons. I suspect he was the one responsible for the disaster that killed my crew. The crew of the Excalibur.”

Maggie twitched in surprise. The details he was sharing were tantamount to revealing his identity, but Henshaw didn’t care at that moment. She replied slowly, with consideration. “I’ve never even heard of the Excalibur… I mean, I’m sorry, it’s just…”

“Top secret space flight in a top secret shuttle designed to test cosmic ray shielding in the depths of space. This is before there was a guy flying around with one of these on his fingers, able to fly out into a vacuum and save the day,” said Henshaw, gesturing to his ring, “you’ll find no public record of it, but Luthor knows. Luthor got off scot free. And he knows who I am and I think he knows how to affect my ring. He said something before I grabbed him in STAR, but my ring isn’t able to reply it. If he’s got his way into my ring, it could cause problems.”

“You know it’s dangerous you flying around with that ring in the shape you’re in, right?” said Sawyer.

“Without this, without the job, I think I’d explode,” said Hank. “I can’t… I can’t stop because that’s when it hits me, you know?”

“Yeah, but you need to talk to someone about this, before… well, before it becomes too much. You’re struggling, GL. And if Luthor’s able to push your buttons, then--”

“I’ll deal with Luthor. And the astronaut. I think he’s one of my former crew. And if that’s true, there might be… be… two more of them. A man and a woman. Oh, God,” Hank shook his head, “if Jon’s back, Terri and Benj could be too.”

“The other members of your crew?”

“My wife,” whispered Hank. “My wife and my best friend.”


Guy tried to think. He thought, how am I able to think when half my brain is in another dimension? But the answer didn’t come to him. Not because his brain was phased into the Phantom Zone, but because the answer was impossible and impossible thoughts had no place in his currently fragmented head.

Xa-Du was operating on him. Pain receptors had been turned off via a burst of laser-focused heat vision to parts of his spine and Guy didn’t know how much fight he had left in him. Xa-Du didn’t consider Guy a thing worth living, that much was sure, and as soon as the appeal of not working on a Daxamite waned, it was a simple case of disposing of the Green Lantern with ease.

In the corner of the room was Guy’s right arm. His left arm and leg. His right leg was being worked on right now. Perfectly removed by Xa-Du’s surgical madness and his heat vision. Guy was being taken apart systematically. What was next?

Even with his spine mangled by heat vision, Guy could smell burning meat and hear the sizzling of flesh. It didn’t hurt, obviously, but it tingled, ticked even, but he couldn’t focus on that. The ring Xa-Du discarded somewhere in this room was an option. And he knew how to take advantage of that fact…

“Honour… Lantern,” whispered Guy. “Gardner…”

“What’s that?” Xa-Du lowered his blood-splattered surgical mask. “Name, rank and serial number? Aren’t we past that?”

“Gardner… Honour Lantern Gardner, silence as ack… ack… acknowledgement,” said Guy.

“Your signals aren’t getting out of this room, Green Lantern,” said Xa-Du. “And I’ve cut your brain off from your ring, which is currently zipping around inside the Phantom Zone. You’re only alive thanks to my hospitality.” He pulled his mask back around his mouth and continued to explore inside Guy’s body. “Don’t push that further than it’s already pushed.”

Gardner continued. “Put me back together… get me whole…”

Xa-Du reared up, his eyes flashed red, and Guy roared in pain as something happened to his back-- heat vision had just flipped a switch in his spine to allow signals to be sent to his brain, and the only signals left to be sent were those of agony.

“GETTTTT ME WHOLE AND GET ME OUT OF HERREEEEE,” screamed Guy.

The discarded power ring shot out from under the unit it had been thrown to, and zipped toward Guy.

Xa-Du caught it immediately.

“Voice activated? How utterly delightful.”

From under the immense grip of Xa-Du, threads of light shot out, dozens then hundreds, and they moved so blindingly fast that the Kryptonian didn’t have a chance to disperse them. Guy’s arms and legs were drenched in light then reattached to Guy’s body, stitched back on with the same threads of light that picked them up. Guy screamed, even as his ring went into full automatic, working remotely while under Xa-Du’s fingers. Cauterised flesh was removed from guy’s body and blood was forced to pump through dead limbs. He was being energised, reignited, and if everything went as he hoped, he’d have full use of his limbs back soon enough.

“Stupid, stupid,” started Xa-Du, and he began to squint in Guy’s direction-- the Green Lantern’s chest began to burn--

Guy couldn’t help but scream, and the words came out of his mouth bloody and raw: “LOCK HIM DOWNNNNN!”

<Containment procedure activated,> said the ring, in a voice Guy didn’t recognise. He didn’t know who the Sector Lanterns were that he’d failed to rescue yet, but one of their rings was going to save him-- he hoped.

Xa-Du was immediately encased in emerald amber, frozen in place by the action. The ring was still under his grip, and Guy couldn’t stay there for much longer. A Kryptonian at the height of his power wouldn’t be kept locked down for too long.

“G-get my head straight. Standard human physiology upgrades.”

Guy tried moving his hand but the reaction time was sluggish. Even knitted together by a power ring, healing had to set in. Nerves would be sustained by light, but they had to grow back. Blood had to start circulating.

Guy Gardner was nearly whole again, and the ring he was using began pumping his body full of the chemicals it needed to start the healing process but also to not feel pain. He needed adrenaline, and plenty of it. Norepinephrine for alertness and concentration. Serotonin to steady his thoughts and keep him calm and Acetylcholine to ensure the lag between thought and ring was at an all-time minimum when he got it back on his finger. It was bad not having the ring on him, but with part of his body still phased into another dimension, it would have to work-- it had to!

“Locate the parts of my body not in phase with this dimension and get me the--” The emerald casing around Xa-Du began to crack. Guy could see the Kryptonian begin to blur as he vibrated his body to begin his escape. “Shit. Get me what I need to get my brain back where it should be. And begin draining his cells of their solar charge and get him onto the dark side of the colony! ”

Finally, the ring in Xa-Du’s hand shot out from under his grip as it weakened under the pressure of the effort he needed to exude to escape. He was carried off immediately by an aura of light that sent sparks of glowing, incandescent energy away from his body, stripping it of the solar charge that empowered his cells.

“Ah, crap, I’m stuck with you until the part of my brain that mentally connects me to my ring is put back,” said Guy. “Get on with the--”

Emerald tendrils shot out from the power ring Guy was using, and worked over the Phantom Zone projector. Immediately after, more strands of light shot out into the dimensional rift, searching for something-- Guy hoped it was his brain-- but before he could question exactly what was going on, the ring engulfed him in light and dragged him toward the projector! He struggled, cursed, but was pushed into the prison dimension and all reality lost meaning.

Guy couldn’t feel any pain. His heart didn’t race. The world was out of phase, his human senses dulled and deadened by the lack of auditory or visual input provided by the Phantom Zone. Total sensory deprivation. This was the final sanction of a race of enlightened beings who didn’t believe in the death penalty-- solitary confinement and psychological torture in equal measure. Guy tried to open his mouth but he didn’t know if signals were being sent from his brain to his mouth, but then something became clear in the blind world of the ghost world he was within-- something shining bright green.

Guy Gardner’s ring slipped back onto his finger and he felt all the connections that Xa-Du had severed thanks to his impromptu dimensional lobotomy be restored. The ring outside the Phantom Zone yanked Guy back into reality, and he was restored, ready for action.

Xa-Du was waiting, having dragged himself and the weight of the emerald energy covering him back into the room. “You… stupid… ape…!”

“Nah,” said Guy. He touched the back of his head and felt complete, his bristly fuzz of hair making a welcome return. Focusing his thoughts, he primed his ring, “I don’t--”

Xa-Du’s eyes lit up and behind Guy, the Phantom Zone portal began to whine. Guy turned at the last moment and saw the explosion coming, throwing up a shield at the last moment. Ghost shards flew through him as the projector shifted into the ghost dimension, but the threat of the projector was done, leaving the mad scientist without his greatest weapon-- apart from his own body.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Xa-Du, shrugging off the emerald construct that held him down with one almighty effort, “I have enough research in here,” he tapped his temple, “to begin my work. The Daxamites were the raw material I needed, and now I need Kryptonian subjects. I shouldn’t have wasted my time on--”

Twin emerald beams shot into Xa-Du’s back and sent him ploughing into the concrete and metal below, and Guy allowed himself a glimmer of hope when he saw who was responsible--

Sinestro and Yat shot down and kept the pressure on Xa-Du.

“Good Gods, Gardner-- what did he do to you--?” said Sinestro, glancing at the Honour Lantern they’d come to rescue.

“Took me… took me… apart…” said Gardner. “Keep on him, he’ll--”

Xa-Du swatted Yat away, and Sinestro caught his newest charge in an emerald sphere and returned him to his side. The mad Kryptonian considered the three Green Lanterns and smiled. “That tickled. Now, I’ve not yet had the pleasure of introducing myself to your species, purple-skin. But you,” he gestured toward Sodam, “a Daxamite. How boring. I’ve had my fill.”

Xa-Du’s eyes flashed and Sinestro’s aura exploded as heat vision impacted against him. He stumbled back, weakened by the sudden exertion and power drain necessitated by preventing the attack from damaging him. Before he could react, Xa-Du aimed the Phantom Zone projector at the Korugan, but before he could trigger the mechanism, Guy’s ring sparked up and sent razor sharp chaff directly into the eyes of his tormentor, blinding him and removing at least two advantages the Kryptonian held over the three gathered Green Lanterns.

“T-take him!” screamed Guy, and Sodam did as he was told, hurtling toward Xa-Du and sending the two of them out of the reoccupied compound and the numerous victims of Xa-Du’s crusade of terror.

“Gardner, are you all right?” said Sinestro, tending to his colleague.

“Your v-vocal response protocol saved my skin,” said Guy. “I had to put myself together remotely. G-Godammit, hurts, hurts like hell.”

“You just went toe-to-toe with a Kryptonian, Gardner. The fact that you lived to tell the tale speaks volumes.”

“He’s killed hundreds here, slaughtered them. You have to-- have to--” here were numerous explosions a number of leagues away, and the entire compound shook as the explosions grew louder. Grew closer. “Stop him. Put him down. Don’t let him get back up.”

“Are you--?” Before Thaal could continue checking on his comrade, Guy pulled himself up, shaky on his feet, and dismissed the concern through gritted teeth, a pale face and a sheen of sweat. “I can use the ring, I can fight. Three against one. I like those odds.”

Guy couldn’t help but feel like he was lying to himself as Sodam Yat was thrown at their feet, his face having taken on the appearance of a piece of well tenderised meat.

NEXT ISSUE: What power does Lex Luthor hold over Henshaw? Hank doesn’t care, he wants Metropolis’ second-favourite-son to pay for his crimes. Meanwhile, even with two of the most powerful Green Lanterns by his side, what chance does Guy have against the nigh unstoppable Xa-Du, in full view of a yellow sun? FIND OUT NEXT MONTH!